Very nice. Chinese indie/underground music is far more interesting than its mainstream counterpart. Taiwan's indie/underground scene is particularly potent.

One thing that's kind of disappointing is that when we listen to songs in languages we don't know, often we are only experiencing half of its real magic, since lyrics is the other half. This is especially important when the lyrics are really good. Even when reading a translation of it, you're still not getting the full experience, because every language has its own idiosyncrasies in syntax, cadence, and diction, and how those elements are creatively used is part of the creative vision behind the song. Unfortunately, translations cannot convey that magic, because you lose all the idiosyncrasies when filtered through another language. It's very obvious when I listen to songs in English and Chinese--two languages I'm fluent in, and then I listen to songs in Korean, Japanese, French, or any other language, even when I read the translations, I know I'm only experiencing part of the magic. Sometimes I wish we all just used the same language so there are no barriers.

Of course, this only matters to people who actually give a damn about the actual meaning of the songs, and those who only listen to music as some kind of sonic wallpaper--they really couldn't care less. To people who mainly listen to mainstream pop songs, this also isn't that important, because mainstream pop songs have the absolute worst lyrics in all genres of music. Fact is, many people who do listen to mainstream pop songs in other languages only do so because they don't have to suffer the crass/shallow lyrics that sound like middle-school kids wrote them. So maybe it's a good thing we don't all speak the same language. :D

Quote:

Originally Posted by TwinQY

IU is currently my ultimate favorite Korean mainstream pop artist. She's got such an expressive and versatile voice, and so accomplished/talented for her age. I love that she's can be very pop and cute and perform on stage like a first rate popstar with impeccable stage presence, then turn around and do an acoustic live performance on her guitar and singing a song she wrote herself, and also do amazing cover versions of other people's songs. I can't wait for her next full-length album. She's got an amazing future in front of her.

And thanks for posting that 80's oldie. There aren't many good information about pre-Kpop boom era songs/artists, so any recommendations are appreciated. I really liked her voice--it can be so soft and fragile, yet also rough and emotional in the dramatic verses.

And thanks for posting that 80's oldie. There aren't many good information about pre-Kpop boom era songs/artists, so any recommendations are appreciated. I really liked her voice--it can be so soft and fragile, yet also rough and emotional in the dramatic verses.

To be honest I just pulled out some mixtapes from under the bed today for some listening, and felt like those were worth sharing. Took quite a while to find most of them on youtube, that's for sure.

I had a bunch of older OSTs lined up as well, but most likely people have already heard them.

Also found this oldie, for those who like Jap OSTs

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lunatique

Very nice. Chinese indie/underground music is far more interesting than its mainstream counterpart. Taiwan's indie/underground scene is particularly potent.

One thing that's kind of disappointing is that when we listen to songs in languages we don't know, often we are only experiencing half of its real magic, since lyrics is the other half. This is especially important when the lyrics are really good. Even when reading a translation of it, you're still not getting the full experience, because every language has its own idiosyncrasies in syntax, cadence, and diction, and how those elements are creatively used is part of the creative vision behind the song. Unfortunately, translations cannot convey that magic, because you lose all the idiosyncrasies when filtered through another language. It's very obvious when I listen to songs in English and Chinese--two languages I'm fluent in, and then I listen to songs in Korean, Japanese, French, or any other language, even when I read the translations, I know I'm only experiencing part of the magic. Sometimes I wish we all just used the same language so there are no barriers.

IU is currently my ultimate favorite Korean mainstream pop artist. She's got such an expressive and versatile voice, and so accomplished/talented for her age. I love that she's can be very pop and cute and perform on stage like a first rate popstar with impeccable stage presence, then turn around and do an acoustic live performance on her guitar and singing a song she wrote herself, and also do amazing cover versions of other people's songs. I can't wait for her next full-length album. She's got an amazing future in front of her.

And thanks for posting that 80's oldie. There aren't many good information about pre-Kpop boom era songs/artists, so any recommendations are appreciated. I really liked her voice--it can be so soft and fragile, yet also rough and emotional in the dramatic verses.

I have to highlight this, as it is especially important. The Taiwanese scene has probably churned out more quality stuff as of recent than any other chinese-speaking scene. The mainland has had their golden era during the 60-70s, and HK during the 80-90s. But the indie scene in Taiwan right now is astonishingly good. Astonishingly good.

My favourite IU covers were the Toy ones where she mixed each song together and put a nice little twist.

Most Toy fans know these songs

This is also a personal favourite.

And of course the classic covers that have been re-covered over and over again (Naver's caked with them)

Her performance alongside Corinne Bailey Rae also demonstrated how her stage presence is par to par with most of the big shots.

Quote:

Of course, this only matters to people who actually give a damn about the actual meaning of the songs, and those who only listen to music as some kind of sonic wallpaper--they really couldn't care less. To people who mainly listen to mainstream pop songs, this also isn't that important, because mainstream pop songs have the absolute worst lyrics in all genres of music. Fact is, many people who do listen to mainstream pop songs in other languages only do so because they don't have to be suffer the crass/shallow lyrics that sound like middle-school kids wrote them. So maybe it's a good thing we don't all speak the same language. :D

Very intuitive. Most people try to avoid this whenever I bring it up to them...but it is so evidently the case a great deal of the time. It's almost as they were completely xenophobic towards english songs as a whole, but their taste towards songs with asian lyrics they approve of aren't exactly a huge departure from the English songs they hide from and find cheesy. A lack of interest in music is a lack of interest in music, no matter how one may try and hide from that.

If you're interested in more 80s Korean stuff, askakorean had a nice list to start off from on his blog, people usually find it easier to branch off from that. http://askakorean.blogspot.ca/1998/02/50-most-influential-k-pop-artists.html. Reply 1997 had a bunch of easter egg inserts of 80-90s songs in the OST. For example, there was a insert from Tokyo Love Story in the 7-8th episode, hard to believe people didn't notice that (I remember the dorama in particular was decently popular in Korea, especially for a dorama)

This part, starts 2 minutes in.

Speaking of Love Story -

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bokyung

I love Kwang! Keep up the good tunes!

@Lunatique - Just noticed from your location that you're from Fuzhou? That's my hometown as well. Cool to see another one here. Nvm, saw location change. Won't try and get too personal.

Tumultuous, frenzied playing, tons of raw emotion, voicing is top notch (often considered to have been the best abrasive saxophone ever). Bunch of his collection's on tape, so not the most hi-fi, but a major player in the formation of avant-garde to come. Childhood hero, even when everyone had forgotten about him.